Mother Of Christchurch Victim Dies Of Heart Attack 1 Day After Burying Son

The whole world was horrified to hear that there had been a mass shooting in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand — one that claimed the lives of 50 people. A further 50 were injured by the gunman, who walked into two mosques on March 15 brandishing an assault rifle.

In the past week, after the victims were officially identified by authorities, funeral services were held for many of them. Tragically, for one family member, the horrific event of losing her son in the shooting — and having to bury him — was too much to bear. Abdelfattah Mhaisen Adwan, the 65-year-old mother of shooting victim Kamel Darwish, suffered a fatal heart attack the day after his funeral, according to The New Zealand Herald.

Darwish, who was 38 years old at the time of his death, is from Jordan. He had moved to Christchurch just six months ago. He was still waiting for his wife and three children to join him in New Zealand when he was killed at the Al Noor Mosque.

According to Yaser Mohammad, Darwish’s mother had traveled from Jordan to attend his funeral after the shooting.

“She came yesterday to attend the funeral. Apparently this morning she passed away because she couldn’t put up with the sorrow and sadness of losing her son.”

Reports indicate that arrangements are being made for Darwish’s body to be returned to his family in Jordan, along with his mother’s body.

Adwan is not the only person related to the tragedy to have suffered a heart attack in the 10 days since the attack. Shooting victim Mohsin Al-Harbi’s wife suffered a major heart attack while she searched for him, and had to be taken to hospital in critical condition. Sazada Akhter’s mother, although still in Bangladesh, suffered a heart attack upon learning of the attack — and that her daughter had been shot twice.

Family members of the victims have been met with nothing but love from the community, and from New Zealand as a whole. Memorial services saw non-Muslims coming out in droves to offer up their support, with many of the women even wearing hijabs in a show of solidarity.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was among them, greeting family members and survivors with words of comfort as she declared the attack to be an act of terrorism. Ardern has also wasted no time in changing the gun laws in New Zealand. As The Inquisitr previously reported, it took the country just six days to pass laws that will ban all military-style semi-automatic rifles as of April 11.